Latest news with #CasaVega
Los Angeles Times
16 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
Chefs, comedians and actors share their favorite Valley hangs
Everyone has a Valley standby, a place they go when they want to feel at home, with little fuss, a reliable menu and friendly faces. For me it's Tiki No, a neon-lighted bar that serves up flaming Scorpion bowls in North Hollywood. We reached out to some of our favorite Valley residents, from local chefs and cookbook authors to actors, a senator, record shop owner and podcast host. Some were born and raised in the area, while others are newer residents. Alex Padilla, California senator: 'The San Fernando Valley food scene includes quality, authentic cuisine from around the world, but my comfort food favorites are still Mexican restaurants in the northeast end of the Valley. The handmade tortillas at Lenchita's in Pacoima that my dad introduced me to years ago are as good as ever. El Tarasco in Sylmar is under new ownership, but they've maintained the same high-quality ingredients — many regulars think that some of the dishes and salsas are even better than before. But what I'm most excited about right now is being able to order El Mero Mero (Pacoima) on DoorDash. You can't go wrong with any of the tacos, burritos, sopes or specialty quesadillas. Just make sure to ask for extra salsa — both green and red — because your mind and your taste buds will be blown.' Tiffani Thiessen, actor and cookbook author: 'Bill's Burgers [is] our [favorite] burger in the Valley. Super casual setting for a quick bite with the best legendary old school burger. Oy Bar [is] one of our favorite date night spots [and the] food is always on point. Casa Vega [is a] nostalgic Mexican joint that has been a staple in the Valley for many years and [I] hope it continues.' Valerie Bertinelli, actor and host: 'I love Mistral, I've been going there since the '80s, and of course, Casa Vega, we had [Wolfgang] and Andraia's rehearsal dinner there and there's little plaques in the booths for me and [Wolfgang] and [Eddie Van Halen]. And of course I was so happy when Petit Trois came to the Valley, perfect little French bistro.' Eric Warheim: comedian, winery owner and cookbook author: 'A premium Valley experience is a margarita at Casa Vega then over to Bill's Burgers: two of the realest, most L.A. spots you can find. Then Asanebo for some toro and then Anajak for some Emrich-Schönleber!' Evan Lovett, 'L.A. In a Minute' podcast host: 'I love Casa Vega because it's an institution and for what it means to the Valley. When you go in there, it's fun, it's comfortable, they have good drinks. Christy Vega cares so deeply about the legacy of her dad and going back to her grandfather, who opened Cafe Caliente on Olvera Street. Listen, in the Valley, 70 years is forever. ... When my wife and I go out to date night, we go to 'Sushi Row' on Ventura Boulevard. Our little place is Studio Sushi, right near Radford Studios. But we start at Oy Bar. It's super dark, been around since the 1970s, when it was called Oyster House, and was updated. It's kind of a Japanese-Jewish menu, but [Jeff Strauss] does a killer job.' Jaime Ray Newman, actor and producer: 'My husband and I can't live without Red Window Coffee. It used to literally be a small coffee stand where you'd get your fix through a red window, but they got so popular over the years they opened their own storefront. Owned by Aussies, they make the best oat cortado in the Valley. And they have a DJ to set the mood. Lovely baristas, their vibe is very cool, laid-back, and their beans and presentation are excellent. Ticks all our coffee snob needs. Also a shout-out to Coffee Commissary in Burbank. Love their coffee too, but their vegan chocolate chip cookies are the best in L.A.!' Justin Pichetrungsi, Anajak Thai Cuisine chef-owner: 'Me and my folks love going to Brothers [Sushi, in Woodland Hills], but actually what we love more is to do the temaki takeout and bring it back home. It's a little bit more economical, and it's very generous and it's lovely.' Philip Frankland Lee and Margarita Kallas-Lee, co-owners of Sushi by Scratch and Pasta Bar: '[Machu Picchu in Van Nuys] is a hole-in-the-wall Peruvian spot. Peru is our favorite country to travel to and we've spent quite a bit of time in Lima, and it's exactly like the stuff in Peru except with better product. The anticuchos are done really well. And their ceviche is the best we've had in Los Angeles. You'll tend to see a grandma in the kitchen and her grandkids playing with coloring books. Sergio Amalfitano, owner of the Midnight Hour Records: 'I happen to be vegan. At Leonor's Mexican Vegetarian in North Hollywood off Lankershim, I like the 'chicken' and cheese empanadas. Tender Grill Cafe for the falafel wrap, or the falafel plate dinner with hummus and fries. Good China in North Hollywood is a little hole-in-the-wall Chinese spot that has six or eight vegan options — honey walnut shrimp, Mongolian beef, chow mein. You would not assume it has vegan options, but it does. I just ordered Veggietize Me's vegan Western burger. They have vegan Big Mac-style and Tommy's-style burgers. Lotus Vegan, a Thai restaurant on Lankershim — awesome mom-and-pop shop. I don't drink, but I like Tony's Darts Away because they have trivia and half the menu is vegan.' Allen Yelent, Goldburger owner: 'The Valley is rich and dense and there's lots of people here, and it is one of the most beautiful parts of L.A. if you actually love and care and think about L.A. The Valley has everything. I mean, sometimes you don't even know the names of the places! There's a regular kabob spot that my dad and I always get takeout from [Malek's Grill & Kabob], on Winnetka and Vanowen. There's so many great neighborhood mom-and-pop strip mall spots doing really, really amazing food.' Danny Gordon, Heavy Handed co-owner: 'I keep talking about these sushi joints down the stretch of Ventura Boulevard. I think they're the best in L.A. and for me, as someone who's been to Japan, these Valley dive sushi spots have this sort of no-frills casualness to them that felt like one of those joints in Japan where you walk in and the guy has five or six seats and he just serves you what he wants. There's no gold leaf or caviar. It's just really good, solid fish and a couple of cooked hot items. The list goes on: Sushi Spot [in Tarzana], Niko Sushi [in Tarzana], Restaurant Tatsuki Woodland Hills, Sushi Iki [in Tarzana], Chiba in North Hollywood. There's just so many like that.' Max Miller, Heavy Handed co-owner: 'I know Danny [Gordon] and I both grew up on this, but Dan's Super Subs. They just absolutely crank out sandwich after sandwich after sandwich. And that was a staple after games: Your parents would take you and a couple kids as well, and be able to get these huge sub sandwiches.'
Los Angeles Times
16-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
Kaitlyn Dever was Hollywood's best-kept secret. Those days are over now
Kaitlyn Dever knows the words to the 'Bob the Builder' theme song. She's singing it — we're singing it — which isn't something I expected when preparing to talk with her again after we took a deep dive into the season finale of 'The Last of Us.' But then, even the most meticulous research had failed to turn up that Dever's father, Tim, voiced Bob the Builder, as well as another icon of children's television, Barney the Dinosaur. 'I know, right?' Dever says, laughing. 'Barney the Dinosaur. Crazy.' Is it a reach to think that's why Dever is having such a blast right now in Australia shooting 'Godzilla x Kong: Supernova,' the latest entry in the Monsterverse franchise? After all, this isn't her first rodeo with a dinosaur — even if this time around, the creature isn't purple or huggable or even tangible, just a green-screen dream. 'I want to meet Godzilla,' Dever says. 'I just don't know if, outside my imagination, I ever will. But that's OK. My imagination is a powerful thing.' Dever is home in L.A. for a few days, taking a break from filming, enjoying time with her dad and her younger sisters, anticipating her return for good in July when she'll have enough time for, among other things, a meal or three at the venerable Valley Mexican restaurant Casa Vega. She's experiencing serious taco withdrawal right now. If you've had even a casual relationship with television or movies in the last 15 years, you know Kaitlyn Dever, even if you don't think you do. As a teenager, she got her start playing the gun-toting, pot-growing Loretta McCready on 'Justified' and Tim Allen's daughter on 'Last Man Standing.' She then starred opposite Beanie Feldstein in the thrilling, funny 2019 coming-of-age comedy 'Booksmart,' now part of the teen movie canon, and then gutted viewers portraying a sexual assault survivor in 'Unbelievable' and an opioid addict on 'Dopesick.' Earlier this year, she shined as a cancer-faking Australian wellness influencer in the limited series 'Apple Cider Vinegar.' All that was a prelude to her turn as Abby Anderson on 'The Last of Us,' playing the young woman who killed Joel (Pedro Pascal) to avenge her father's death. Dever appears in only three episodes of the show's second season, and in two of them, she has just one scene. But if you measured an actor's work by the power emanating from brief screen time, Dever would be the television season's MVP. 'I remember feeling like we were capitalizing on a quasi-secret that shouldn't be a secret,' says 'The Last of Us' co-creator and showrunner Craig Mazin. 'It was the same feeling I had with Bella [Ramsey]. You can't wait to watch the reaction when everyone finally sees it.' The second season served as a curtain-raiser for both Dever and her character, ending in a reset that will now follow Abby through the warring factions and fungal-infected hordes of postapocalyptic Seattle, bringing her back to that moment when she meets Ramsey's Ellie again. Both Mazin and Neil Druckmann, co-creator of 'The Last of Us' game, are practically salivating at the prospect of spotlighting Abby, as it will force viewers to reckon with their reactions to her killing Joel. 'Our challenge now is to make you question whether you hate Abby at all and maybe make you start to love her and then be confused,' Mazin says. 'Where are my loyalties? What is the concept of a hero? That requires an actor who can inspire those thoughts without sweating, and we have that in Kaitlyn.' 'That's the experiment of the story,' Druckmann adds. 'What if Abby isn't so horrible? I'm thrilled to watch Kaitlyn bring her version of Abby to the screen because I think people can already see the force she brought to the show in such a short period of time.' That Dever did all this amid the shattering grief of losing her mother, Kathy, to breast cancer is something that, 15 months later, she still can't quite fathom. Dever flew to Vancouver three days after her mom's funeral. Her first day on set was the scene in which Abby kills Joel. 'When you have a moment like that with an actor, you are immediately bound to them,' Mazin says. 'I would stand in front of a bullet for her.' For Dever, everything about that day is a blur, and when she finally watched the episode this year, it was like seeing it for the first time. 'Grief does a really interesting thing with your brain,' she says. 'It messes with your memory.' Truthfully, Dever, 28, didn't want to leave home after her mother's funeral. She didn't think she could do it. It took her father to remind her how excited her mom was when she won the part of Abby. 'I realized there's no part of me that couldn't not do this,' Dever says. 'I had to do it for her.' Saying that she 'won' the role isn't entirely accurate. When Mazin and Druckmann asked her to drive to casting director Mary Vernieu's Santa Monica office in 2023, Dever went in thinking it was going to be an audition, much like the one she had with Druckmann years ago when there had been talk about turning the game into a movie. Dever came in prepared to read. It turned out all she had to do was listen. They were pitching her, detailing their plans for the series and Abby's arc and asking her to trust them. She was so shocked that she spent most of the meeting just trying to hold it together until she could get back to her car, call her dad with the news and listen to him freak out. 'He couldn't believe it,' Dever says. 'He had played the game and loved Abby, so this was huge.' She remembers everything about that day, including the 'really big cookie' they gave her when she left. 'I think only just now have I been able to process that it actually happened,' she says, smiling. Dever stands 5 foot 3 and bears little resemblance to the tall, muscular version of Abby seen in 'The Last of Us' game. Imposing, she is not. And that makes her work on 'The Last of Us' all the more remarkable. 'Abby is so intimidating because of her strength,' Dever says. 'And that comes from her dark and very sad past and how long she has been thinking about killing Joel. That's the energy I was hoping to put across.' Does Dever consider herself a strong person? 'Mmm-hmm, yeah,' she answers immediately. 'When I think of strength, I think of what has brought you to this moment, how much you've been through and how have you gotten here. It's more emotional, what I consider strength.' A few minutes later, though, we stumble upon her kryptonite. Dever has two younger sisters, Mady and Jane. She and Mady have been making music together for years and just released a six-song EP, 'I Think We're Lost,' recorded under the banner Devers. It's beautiful folk pop featuring the kind of intuitive harmonies that only siblings can pull off. But, for a while at least, you'll probably only hear it on streaming services and not in a concert setting. Dever hates performing in front of people. 'When you ask if I have strength, I don't have strength in that regard,' she says. 'It's so scary. Maybe I'm working up to it. I don't know. My sister is so confused by the nerves that I have. She doesn't share that nerve thing with me. She's like, 'You literally perform in front of people for a living.' But with acting, I'm playing a character. Onstage with music, there's nothing for me to hide behind.' But when it comes to songwriting, Dever doesn't want to hide. The last several weeks, she has been pulling out her acoustic guitar and writing songs about her mom for an album she plans to dedicate to her. She writes during her downtime making 'Godzilla x Kong' — there's a lot of downtime on a movie like that — and has come up with seven or eight songs, each playing off core memories. Most of them are upbeat and happy because that's the kind of music that her mom listened to and loved. 'Everyone used to say that she was like a 17-year-old stuck in a 53-year-old body,' Dever says, laughing. 'She had a very youthful quality to her that was magnetic. She approached life with a lot of humor and just wanted to have a good time.' 'And I have to sometimes remember that,' Dever continues, 'because as much as I love the challenge of doing serious stuff and find playing those types of characters therapeutic, there's a place for a Godzilla movie, you know?'
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Ludo Lefebvre Names His Top L.A. Mexican Haunts
Classically-trained French chef Lefebvre started a pop-up craze in L.A. in 2010, when he launched his fried chicken concept, 'LudoTruck' — which became his first brick-and-mortar location, LudoBird at the Staples Center. In 2013, he debuted the 24-seat tasting menu hot spot Trois Mec in Hollywood with Vinny Dotolo and John Shook; and in 2014, he opened popular French bistro, Petit Trois, next door. A Michelin star and James Beard Award nom followed — as did a second location of Petit Trois, in Sherman Oaks, in 2018. Last summer, the famed chef and TV personality partnered with the Delphine Day Club at Costa Palmas in Los Cabos ( where he serves his Nicoise cuisine to beachgoers over lively DJ beats. In honor of the club's second summer season, chef Ludo names his favorite Mexican dishes in Los Angeles. Table-Side Guacamole Casa Vega 'Casa Vega is a neighborhood icon in the Valley and it's right down the street from Petit Trois in Sherman Oaks. A true classic spot loved by all. It's always busy, the energy is amazing and it's just really fun. It's a MUST to start with the tableside guacamole, and they have one of the best margaritas in town.' $19, 13301 Ventura Blvd., Sherman Oaks, MoleGuelaguetza 'Guelaguetza is another classic. Bricia and her family have owned the restaurant, located in the middle of Koreatown, for over 30 years. They focus on Oaxacan food. I always get one of their moles. Sometimes I add chapulines [grasshoppers] to my tacos for a little extra protein. Don't forget to order one of the famous micheladas [cocktails]. Moles start at $22, 3014 W. Olympic Blvd., Harvard Heights, Prawns a la Parrilla Damian 'Damian is from Michelin-starred chef Enrique Olvera, who is really talented. The food here is a modern, refined take on Mexican. It combines ingredients and traditions from Mexico as well as California. Prawns a la Parrilla is one of my favorite dishes: [It's] fresh, light and full of flavor, with perfectly grilled prawns finished with flaky sea salt. $60, 2132 E. 7th St., DTLA,
